(Darius) Miller Time may have arrived in New Orleans

The New Orleans Pelicans are flying high on their second three-game winning streak of the season. Even more impressive, they’ve done it all on the road. Role players normally struggle away from home, so you wouldn’t expect someone who was struggling to pick a different arena to finally find their game. For forward Darius Miller, however, it was the perfect place for him to find his game, confidence, and a new spot in the rotation.

There’re two things that normally come to mind when you hear “Miller Time”. Either that happy hour that you’re approaching in traffic after a long week of work or Indiana Pacers Hall of Famer Reggie Miller.

Maybe it’s just something about the name because for the Pelicans right now, “Miller Time” points to the reemergence of Darius Miller.

We don’t want to paint a picture of Miller being a superstar, he’s nowhere near that. But, for a team in need of a consistent supporting cast, he’s almost just important as one. Darius was originally meant to be an under the radar signing and help New Orleans’ predicted spacing issues. After being drafted in 2012, Miller was supposed to be a part of the young nucleus the Pelicans were building.

With underwhelming defense and a long-range jump shot that had decreased to a poor 32 percent in year two, Miller’s time in the NBA had briefly come to an end. Miller’s next stop was playing overseas in Europe and most would have predicted his career in the NBA to be over. But an extended opportunity in Germany gave Miller the chance to grow his confidence level and his game.

Miller averaged 10.9 ppg and shot 40.9 percent in two seasons overseas, which prompted the Pelicans to offer Miller his chance to return back to the team that drafted him. In an interview over the summer with Pelicans team broadcaster Joel Meyers, Miller explained what he felt was different in his game.

“It’s definitely confidence, and being on the court, having game reps. I was one of the main guys on the team, so I got a lot more shots, a lot more experience on the court. As I got more comfortable, the confidence came. It just turned out different.”

Confidence can make or break a person, in sports. It’s sometimes the difference between a good stretch and a bad one. Darius went through his bad stretch in October where he shot 14 percent from three and ended up glued to the bench after four games. Even while the Pelicans were short on healthy bodies, Miller didn’t receive more than 6 minutes from 10/22 to 11/1.

When he lacked confidence we would see hesitation into bad shots like this:

Every since the shot above however, something clicked for Miller. He slowly gained back his confidence, so much that the Pelicans even ran a few plays for him. The difference in confidence was night and day. The result was shots like this:

It appeared that Miller knew he may have been running out of chances and just said “buck this” and went out swinging. In turn, he finished with 9 points that faithful night in Dallas. Miller followed up that performance with back to back games of double-digit scoring while shooting over 50 percent from three in his resurgence. He also sadly outpaced the Pels’ 125 million dollar man, Jrue Holiday.

The Pelicans need players who can simply hit open shots with the attention Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins require nightly. Darius Miller may finally be ready to step up and be one of those guys. After New Orleans was able to defeat the Pacers Tuesday night, they established a few things. For starters, the Pelicans are over .500 for the first time in the Alvin Gentry era. That’s HUGE considering how much bad fortune New Orleans has had come its way, even before Gentry arrived.

They’re also 5-2 on the road, which in any glimpse is impressive. It shows a team that is unafraid while being undermanned. That goes a long way in this NBA. The Pelicans overall are still a flawed team, they lack focus, and sometimes the effort. They appear to, at times, “feel themselves” too often, and will make very questionable decisions. But in the end, they’re finding a way to win, something this franchise will undoubtedly take.

Next: With Rajon Rondo returning, Jameer Nelson’s earning his minutes

People like Darius Miller will be the difference between a fringe playoff team and a legit one for New Orleans. With Jrue Holliday still struggling offensively “Miller Time” couldn’t have come any sooner. We can only assume Jrue picks things back up, to go along with Miller’s production. If it continues, we may need to perhaps consider calling him Darius “Reggie” Miller.